The early senescence mutant was isolated from the japonica rice Koshihikari through Ethyl-methane-sulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis. The early senescence phenotype was controlled by a single recessive gene, tentatively symbolized as es-k. Using an F2 population derived from a cross between the mutant and Milyang23 and molecular markers, we mapped the es-k locus to the long arm of chromosome 7 between STS markers 147-1 and 147-2 with a physical distance of 66-kb. The symptom of early senescence appeared even before heading, while appeared during ripening in wild-type. Physiological characteristics of the es-k mutant before initiation of senescence was similar to the wild-type. However, after heading, es-k mutants started to exhibit a significant decrease in chlorophyll and soluble protein content compared to the wild-type. The wild-type leaf color appeared normal irrespective of temperature treatment, while the leaf of es-k mutant appeared pale-green at the low temperature and dark-green at the high temperature. During dark-induced senescence, mutant did not show significant differences compared to normal type. The results show that es-k is sensitive to temperature but not to light.